AL Notes: Williams, Rangers, Red Sox, A-Rod

The Rangers are "making progress" on a deal with pitcher Jerome Williams, MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo tweets. Yesterday, a report indicated that, in the wake of the Derek Holland injury, the Rangers would look to add starting pitching depth, and Williams would certainly qualify. The righty posted a 4.57 ERA with 5.7 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 169 1/3 innings for the Angels in 2013. Here are more notes from the American League.

One reason the Red Sox signed A.J. Pierzynski to a one-year deal is that they did not want to sign a catcher to a long-term deal and block prospects Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez in the process, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. Pierzynski and Swihart were at the same autograph signing in Boston on Saturday, but it's not likely they'll ever play for the Red Sox together. Swihart hit .298/.366/.428 for Class A+ Salem last season, and he'll likely be at Double-A in 2014, probably with Vazquez at Triple-A. MLB.com ranks Swihart the Sox' No. 10 prospect, with Vazquez at No. 15.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the independent Long Island Ducks have invited Alex Rodriguez to play for them in 2014, Mark Herrmann of Newsday reports. "While some MLB suspensions have been honored by the Atlantic League in the past, if Alex Rodriguez were unable to participate in the Major Leagues this season, we would be open to exploring giving him a chance to play, stay sharp and compete," says Ducks president and GM Michael Pfaff. Rodriguez plans to continue to fight his suspension, which prevents him from playing for the Yankees in 2014.

Arod is rich enough to set up his own league and compete against MLB. Start with 4 teams. Plenty of ex major league players who might take an ownership stake in lieu of salary. Players won’t have to worry about testing.

The main reason the Red Sox did not sign Pierzynski to more than one year has less to do with blocking their prospects, but instead more to do with Pierzynski and his age. Why lock into him for two years when they can just have him for one? As for their prospects, they might end up being good, but both are unknown. Vazquez turns 24 this year and will be playing in his first full year at AAA. Swihart might be the more interesting of the two, yet he’s not played above A ball. He certainly won’t be the starting catcher in 2015!

I wouldn’t rule it out completely. Plenty of top level prospects jump from AA to the majors with just a brief, or no stopover at AAA. Bogaerts started last year at AA, and he’ll be starting in 2014.

If Swihart produces and shows he has the tools, there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t be on the scene next year. I’m not saying it’s LIKELY, but it’s far from a certainty that he won’t be the starter.

The Ducks need to show some class and just forget about A-Rod. Baseball is better without him in it. Hopefully Minor League officials will come out with a statement that supports MLB and the MLBPA in their efforts to get PED’s out of Baseball.

To be clear, I was lumping all leagues other than MLB into a category of “Minor Leagues” if that was confusing to you I apologize. The Independent Leagues just aren’t beholden to any one team, but the level of play certainly puts them in the minor league category.

I think that it is an empty gesture by the Ducks to get some press attention. A-Rod risks voiding the rest of his contract if he plays ball somewhere without permission of the Yankees, and the Ducks know it. If this were the last year of A-Rod’s contract, it would be different, but he has $61 million in salary due from 2015 to 2017 plus historic home run marketing bonus money up to $30 million, with the Willie Mays milestone bonus just six homers away.